Chloe Coscarelli's Vegan Ramen Bowl with Crispy Hoisin Tofu for Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammie) Sundays

I adore vegan chef Chloe Coscarelli and have made quite a few of her recipes out of the three of her cookbooks that I own. So, although I have way too many cookbooks already, when I saw that her new Chloe Flavor cookbook was out, I had to get it. (In my defense, I did have a Barnes & Noble coupon, my membership discount, and the remains of a gift card to use up.)

I tagged a bunch of recipes I wanted to try but with a craving for soupy noodles, I had to try her Vegan Ramen Bowl first. With a curry and coconut milk broth, veggies, fresh ramen noodles (worth it if you can find them, but you can use dried noodles too) and crispy tofu cubes tossed in hoisin sauce.

Vegan Ramen Bowl
From Chloe Flavor by Chloe Coscarelli
(Serves 4)

About 8 oz fresh or dried ramen noodles
3 Tbsp vegetable oil + more as needed (I used coconut oil)
1 (16 oz) package extra-firm tofu, pressed (see note below) and cubed
1/4 cup hoisin sauce
2 1/2 cups (8 oz) shiitake mushrooms, sliced
1 bunch baby bok choy, coarsely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp curry powder (I used 2 tsp)
1/4 tsp sea salt, or to taste
4 cups vegetable broth
1 (13.5 oz) can coconut milk

Toppings: thinly sliced scallions, sesame seeds, sriracha or chili-garlic sauce, optional      (I added pea shoots)

Heat a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook according to package instructions. Drain and rinse with cold water and return to the pot--off the heat.

Meanwhile, heat two tablespoons of the oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil shimmers, add the tofu and sear for about 3 minutes per side, until it turns golden and crispy. (Chloe says the key to crispy tofu it not to flip them over too soon--to let them get nicely brown before turning them over.) Add more oil as needed if the pan looks dry. Add the hoisin sauce , reduce the heat to low and turn the tofu to coat it evenly.

In a large saucepan, heat the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium high heat and when it shimmers, add the mushrooms and bok choy. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 to 5 minutes, until the mushrooms are soft and the bok choy wilts. Add the garlic, curry powder, and salt and cook for another minute, until fragrant. Add the broth and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and stir in the coconut milk. Add the cooked ramen noodles and stir until heated through.

Ladle the broth and noodles into bowls and top each serving with scallions, sesame seeds, and tofu. If you like heat, add a drizzle of sriracha or chili-garlic sauce. 

***Pressed Tofu: Chloe says, "To press your tofu, wrap it tightly in kitchen or paper towels and place a heavy object (books, cans from your pantry) on top. Let sit for about 20 minutes while excess water is released from the tofu. Unwrap and cut as directed." (Or be like me and buy a tofu press!)

Notes/Results: It's not traditional, but this ramen bowl totally hit the spot with the curry-coconut broth and the crisp-chewy hoisin-sweet tofu. If you are not a fan of tofu, you haven't tried it pressed, fried up and tossed in a yummy sauce--it adds great flavor and with the mushrooms, a meat-like vibe to the soup that is really satisfying. It's nice on its own and with a touch of heat from the sriracha. Although there are a few steps and pans used in this recipe, it goes together pretty quickly and easily. Chloe notes that you can make it gluten free with rice or other gluten free noodles and making sure your hoisin sauce and broth are GF. I would happily make these bowls again and I look forward to cooking more recipes from this book.

 We have some tasty dishes waiting in the Souper Sundays kitchen, let's take a look!

Shaheen of Allotment2Kitchen made a brothy Bowl of Butter Beans with Kalettes and said, "For those of you scrolling to the bottom of the page in search of the recipe, will have to forgive me as I cannot remember the recipe for this Butter Bean and Kalette dish.  I do however remember it being very simple and light like a broth and the butter beans just melted.  The original recipe had Brussels sprouts, but as I am not that keen on them, I changed it with kalettes also known as purple flower spouts that were in season at the time." 

Tina of Squirrel Head Manor was inspired by my recent potato soup post and made her own Potato Soup with Cheddar and Chives. She said, "My adaptions were minor compared to the original recipe. Yukons were supposed to be on hand but I had red creamer potatoes. Probably it could have been creamier with Yukons but this was still very good. I didn't have the white cheddar so I used regular orange cheddar. Chives. The package I bought looked good but once home, half were soggy so, not a good amount of chives on the toppings. Still - I loved this soup. We brought it for lunch this week at work and it transported and reheated well."

Johanna of Green Gourmet Giraffe shared this colorful Watermelon Poke Salad Bowl with Pickled Radishes and said, "What really fascinates me is dishes that imitate meat with real food.  I don't like all that mock meat stuff at restaurants but I am drawn to simple ideas like carrot hot dogs and tofu bacon. How amazing that someone looked at a watermelon and saw the marbling effect that looks like meat. Amazing and a little disturbing".

Thanks to everyone who joined me this week at Souper Sundays!

About Souper Sundays:

Souper Sundays is back with a new format of a picture link each week where anyone interested can post their soups, salads, or sandwiches any time during the week and I post a recap of the entries the following week.)

(If you aren't familiar with Souper Sundays, you can read about of the origins of it here. 

If you would like to join in Souper (Soup, Salad, and Sammie) Sundays, I would love to have you! Here's how...

To join in this week's Souper Sunday's linkup with your soup, salad or sandwich:

• Link up your soup (stew, chili, soupy curries, etc. are fine), salad, or sandwich dish, (preferably one from the current week or month--but we'll take older posts too) on the picture link below and leave a comment on this post so I am sure not to miss you. Also please see below for what to do on the post you link up to be included.

and 

On your entry post (on your blog):

• Mention Souper (Soup, Salad & Sammies) Sundays at Kahakai Kitchen and link back to this post. (Not to be a pain but it's polite and only fair to link back to events you link up at--so if you link a post up here without linking back on your post, it will be removed.)
• You are welcome to add the Souper Sundays logo to your post and/or blog (optional).

An InLinkz Link-up

Happy Easter and have a happy, healthy week!